1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a vibration motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, for a silent notification device of a mobile communication equipment and the like, or for other purposes, a vibration motor in which a vibrator portion vibrates vertically by an interaction of a coil and a magnet which are disposed in a radial direction, has been in use. In the vibration motor, as disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0082546, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-85438, etc., a flexible circuit board is connected to a coil in order to supply power to the coil included in the vibrator portion.
In the linear vibration motor disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0082546, as described in Paragraphs [0049] to [0054], a mounting portion 183 of a printed circuit board 180 is securely coupled to a case 100, and an elastic portion 185 is extended from the mounting portion 183 in a spiral form. A power applying portion 187 is formed at one end.
However, in the linear vibration motor of US Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0082546, the spiral elastic portion of the circuit board is deformed when the vibrator portion vibrates vertically. When the vibrator portion moves upwardly away from the mounting portion, a downward force is applied to the vibrator portion by the circuit board. Since there is only one elastic portion in the circuit board, the vibrator portion is pulled downward while being twisted in the direction which the elastic portion extends from the coil. When the twisting force rotating the vibrator portion about a horizontal axis is applied, the vibrator portion is tilted so that the vibrating movement of the vibrator portion may be inhibited.